C-FARE and USDA Economists Group Summer Webinar Series

China’s Foreign Agriculture Investments

According to Over 1,300 Chinese enterprises had overseas investments in agriculture, forestry, fishing, processing, farm machinery, inputs, seeds, and logistics in over 100 countries at the end of 2016. Their broad aims are to achieve profits for Chinese investors while achieving national food security and projecting China’s influence abroad. While the United States is the largest supplier of China’s agricultural imports, it has not been a major target of Chinese agricultural investment. Chinese investors tend to enter less-developed countries where there are few competitors, there is potential to raise productivity using Chinese technology, and potential to diversify suppliers of Chinese imports. A few companies with access to financing from Chinese banks are pursuing mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships with companies in more developed markets. Researchers will discuss how these investments reflect changes in China’s demand for food and its need for upgrades in technology and management.

Various forces are accelerating an ever-declining farm labor supply and increasing costs, which will have a profound influence over the next decade on U.S. farms that use hired labor. A strong economy and a decline in immigrant labor have both reduced the available pool of farmworkers. Even if an expanded guestworker program is put in place to address labor shortages, this would only solve the supply problem -- wages would likely not decrease. Further, often missing from farm labor discussions is the role of state labor regulations, which lead to non-marginal wage increases in some states. 2/3 of all U.S.-grown produce (fruits and vegetables) is grown in states that will have legislated substantial minimum wage increases. Non-wage labor regulations are also increasing in some key states. This briefing will include (1) a summary of farm labor trends and existing research, (2) guestworker programs overview, including costs and the “prevailing wage”, (3) state labor laws affecting agriculture, and (4) future research and policy implications.

Pollinator Economics in the United States - Demands, Costs, and Logistics